Barihunks take top prizes at Paris Opera Competition

Ilya Kutyukhin

Russian barihunk Ilya Kutyukhin won the 2019 Paris Opera Competition, taking home both the Claude Dassault First Prize and the Audience Prize. Second Prize went to French barihunk Jérôme Boutillier.

Kutyukhin, a native of Pyatigorsk, Russia, performed Yeletsky’s aria Ya vas lublyu from Tchaikovsky's ,” and Ebben, cosi si narra!...Quando le soglie paterne from Donizetti’s La Favorite” and a duet with Russian-Israeli mezzo-soprano Zlata Khershberg.


Kutyukhin is a member of the ensemble at the Bolshoi Theatre, where he has performed Andrey Shchelkalov in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Moralés in Bizet's Carmen, the Novice's Friend in Britten's Billy Budd and Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
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Upcoming roles include Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame at the Vilnius City Opera, the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Bregenzer Festspiele and Guglielmo at the Bolshoi.

Jérôme Boutillier

Upcoming performances for Jérôme Boutillier include Bardi in Godard's Dante at Opéra Saint-Étienne, Le Précepteur Alidor in Massenet's Cendrillon and the duel roles of Le corrégidor and Bridoison in Offenbach's Maître Péronilla.

Third prize at this year's Paris Opera Competition went to French soprano Melissa Petit.